The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 09, 2003
Filed:
Apr. 06, 1999
3Com Technologies, Georgetown, KY (US);
Abstract
A method of operating a network device in a communication system for the transmission of data packets which include network addresses identifying sources and destinations of data, the network device being capable of both bridging and routing decisions and including a forwarding database by means of which a packet including network address data can be forwarded to at least one port and thereby to at least one network path identified by a network address, and packets can be forwarded to at least one port in response to a media access control address. The method comprises establishing a data table which contains entries comprising a network address of an end station to which a packet is destined, a respective media access control address and an identification of at least one port to which the packet will be directed within the device. The table is accessed in response to network addresses and media access control addresses, whereby the same table can be used for both routing and bridging decisions.